Skinny Love
by AngelofMusic12
Summary: Seventh year James Sirius Potter, Hogwart's prankster and Son of the Boy-Who-Lived, has moved his sights on sixth year Avery Winchester and everyone is thrilled...except her that is. This is their adventurous, complicated, and ridiculously awkward love life. What will happen when friends turn enemies, enemies turn into friends, uncontrollable feelings arise and everything they know
1. A (very) Reluctant Love Interest

Chapter One:

Avery looked up from her book. She could've sworn she had heard something. She took a quick look around the compartment she was currently alone in. Seeing nothing unusual, she went back to reading her novel, while tightening her grip on her wand in her pocket. Suddenly, there was an creepy feeling in the empty compartment she sat in. Her friends, Jessica and Albus, had gone to change into their school robes; they should've been back by now. Avery had dismissed the thought until now, but now she noticed how quiet the train was, despite the other packed compartments packed with children ready to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Avery's attention was drawn away from her book yet again by the sound of the soft click of the door handle moving slowly. A look of realization dawned on Avery's face as she ducked down just in time to avoid her face meeting a small brown sphere being hurled into her compartment, leaving dirt residue on the seats and all over her book, while simultaneously letting off a putrid odor in the compartment.

"Evanesco!" Avery yelled, with a flick of her wand she caused the dungbomb to vanish. "Getting predictable, are we, Potter?" She asked in an irritated voice, but unable to keep some amusement from leaking through as she inspected her now ruined book. It was a good one too, the Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. Pity.

"It was about time you got your nose out of those books anyway."

"Maybe if you picked one up once in a while, you would learn a thing or two, like how not to be an arrogant prat." Avery retorted. She looked up when she heard that familiar laugh ring throughout the compartment and was immediately frozen in place, trapped by two azure blue orbs staring amusedly at her. No. Of course he just HAD to change over summer. How could three months be that kind towards someone? There was no doubt that James Potter had always been a somewhat decent looking male specimen, after all he was deemed Hogwarts' current heartthrob and self-proclaimed playboy, but Avery usually was unaffected, even deterred(or so she seemed), from his looks. Now, his features were more defined and chiseled; his hair had grown shaggier and more untamed, making his eyes contrast even more with his midnight black hair; His build was also slightly less lanky than it had been last year, more taut and muscular, probably from practicing quidditch over the summer. Streaks of Avery's hair started changing from her usual dirty blonde hair to a soft pink and her face started to heat up when she realized she was staring, so she quickly averted her gaze to the floor. Merlin, she wanted to hit him. And not hit him at the same time. It was...complicated, to say the least. He had picked on her since first year, the minute she had walked onto the great oak doors of Hogwarts.

*Flashback*  
Avery had known something was wrong before she even looked up. She had an uncanny ability to sense danger, but usually it wasn't until it was too late. This was one of those times. One second, she was lining up to get sorted, and the next she was covered in peanut butter. Yeah, peanut butter, I mean who does that? She looked across the hall towards the boy who look like he was about to pee himself from laughing so hard. Avery fumed, her hair turning red, too furious to get any words out? The fact that people were murmuring about her metamorphagus powers made it all the worse. Right as she was about to let an out a stream of carefully selected words, an extremely short girl led her away to change her robes.

"I'm sorry," the short girl said as she casts a spell to rid it of the peanut butter, "but, hey, at least you aren't allergic." She said trying to lighten the mood.

Avery smiled and said, "It's not like it's your fault. And thank you so much."

"I'm Jessica Wood by the way, first year. What an interesting accent you have."

"Thanks? It's American. I'm Avery Hicks, first year." She responded, "You wouldn't happen to know who that boy was would you?"

Jessica rolled her eyes before answering,"That's James Potter, prankster extraordinaire." She said in mock awe, "The one who has students and teachers on edge and a horde of fangirls at his beck and call." She giggled.

"Well, I take it that you don't have a personal liking towards this James Potter?"

Jessica scoffed, "Of course not, you would have to be suicidal to do that!"

Avery asked, "Then, I suppose you could help me give him a taste of his own medicine."

Jessica's eyes gleamed in excitement,"Sounds fascinating, how about we talk about it after dinner, right now I'm too hungry to think about revenge." She said as she started bounding towards the Great Hall.

Avery giggled and followed her back to the tables where the first years were getting sorted. She tried to forget about him as she was sorted, but it was difficult when she was seated at the Gryffindor table with him. Lovely, they were in the same house. She looked over and saw him in his seat, dying to hold his laughter in.

A voice came from behind her. "Just ignore him; my older brother is a twat."

She twirled around to come face to face with a boy, obviously first year. "He's your brother?" Avery questioned.

"Yeah."

"I am so sorry." Avery said in mock sorrow.

The boy grinned and said in mock grieving as well. "I know, thank you for your sympathy."

Avery giggled. "My name is Avery."

"Mine is Albus."

"Well, Albus, I hope you know, despite how nice you seem, I'm going to completely ignore your advice."

Albus sighed and said, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Oh come on, I think your brother needs a little payback. Don't tell me you aren't dying to get him back."

Albus saw the determination in her face and sighed in defeat. "Okay, I'm in, what's the plan?"

"Meet me outside the Great Hall after dinner, I'll explain everything there."  
*flashback end*

Yup that was the first day they ever met. Let's just say, things went downhill between Avery and James from there. Not one to be humiliated without revenge, Avery had retaliated. It had taken James a whole week to the get Slytherin House colors out of his hair after the first game of the year. Ever since then there had been a fierce war between the two Gryffindors, which often ended in detention and a penguin in the Prefects' bath. Things had died down the past year and it almost seemed as if the two students might be able to make it through all seven years at Hogwarts without ripping out each other's throats out. But then he had to go and ask her out. Apparently, he hadn't been expecting her to immediately to turn him down with a look of utter disbelief on her face, and it had only increased his determination and soon he was asking her nearly on a daily basis. When the sweet relief of winter break had come last year, Avery soon had discovered that she missed him and his almost constant presence around her. Bloody fantastic right? When she had returned from break, she couldn't look at him the same again. She had promised herself she wouldn't fall for him and would try to push him as far away from her as possible. It would only lead to heartbreak and humiliation. This way if he ever found out, she wouldn't lose a friend, she would lose an enemy. And things got 10,000x harder when she couldn't help but noticing little things about him like when he smiled, it always reached his eyes and made his the corner of his eyes crinkle. Or his laugh, how it wasn't a weird laugh, it was more animated and contagious than other laughs and made you want to laugh along with him. Or how sat upside down on the common room couch when he was studying or reading intently for once. Or when-

"You're cute when you try to sound British, Ree, but I do have to say you should stick with your American slang, it works for you." He said as he plopped down in the seat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Oh yeah, he was still there.

"I swear to Merlin, James, if you don't leave in the next seven seconds, you will leave this compartment in a body bag." Avery threatened, brandishing her wand.

"Aww come on Ree, I know you don't mean that."

"Try me." Avery sneered back.

"Ouch, that hurts right here, love." James pouted, holding his hands over the right side of his chest.

Avery rolled her green eyes. "Your heart is on the other side."

James quickly switched his hands to the left side of his chest and proclaimed dramatically, "The pain is so overwhelming I can't tell where it originates!"

Avery started to smile, but caught herself and turned it into a scowl. There was no need to give him an even more inflated ego. "Potter, just get out, I was here first."

"Sharing is caring."

"Potter..." Avery growled dangerously, her hair changing from soft pink to scarlet red.

"Well, I guess there is one thing that could convince me to leave." James said slyly.

"What?" Avery asked cautiously, slightly scared of the answer.

"Go with me to Hogsmeade this year."

"Wow, I'm impressed, Potter, you've already asked me out three hours before we even get to Hogwarts, I think that's a new record."

"Only for you, love." James said, winking at her.

"Just so we're clear, the answer is still no."

"Worth a shot." James said, shrugging indifferently.

Avery sighed exasperatedly and turned her attention back to her now ruined book. After a few seconds, she heard the compartment door slide open and shut again. She heaved a sigh of relief as she slumped against the seat. Her hair was slowly morphing back to its normal state, but her head was still buzzing with involuntary excitement. What was wrong with her. Three seconds into the school year after a summer of not seeing him and she was already mooning over him like the other valley girls at Hogwarts. "It's just hormones, it's just hormones." Avery chanted studiously in her head. Avery soon was pulled from her inner monologue from the sound of the compartment door opening again.

"For the love of Merlin, James, I swear I will turn you into a mouse and feed you to your sister's cat!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but last time I checked I wasn't James." Oh now they returned. Perfect timing.

Avery simply glared at Albus and Jessica as they stepped into the compartment and sat down in the now unoccupied seats.

"Jessica, I think there is something horribly wrong with Avery, it's been five whole seconds since you mentioned my brother and she hasn't grimaced with disgust yet!" Albus said in mock concern while holding the back of his hand against her forehead.

"You can cease your worrying, child, I'm just too tired to rant about Potter."

"What?! Avery, too tired for her favorite pastime? What has this world come to?!" Jessica asked in mock surprise. "You know, I'm starting to think maybe you secretly enjoy his teasing, even just a little. You actually didn't turn him into a toad this time. That, my friend, is called progress. "

"Oh please." Avery said in a disbelieving tone. " So I take it that you had nothing to do with that little encounter?"

Both Jessica and Albus immediately looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "No...of course not." Jessica lied, her voice uneven and several pitches higher than usual.

"You truly are terrible at lying." Avery stated, irritation lacing her voice.

"Oh come on, I swear he isn't as much as a block headed twat as he was in first year. He's actually really nice and funny which you would know for yourself if you gave him a small, itsy bitsy, teeny tiny chance." Jessica pleaded, holding her index finger and thumb about half an inch apart to empathize," I know you two would get along really well, if you catch my drift." She said suggestively.

Here we go again. Avery rolled her eyes and gave a sigh of exhaustion. Albus and Jessica (along with the rest of the school, including the teachers) seemed determined to get her to admit her "feelings" for James. Like hell she would! She was not going to give that arrogant egotistical toe rag the satisfaction of having another girl under his "god-like''influence. What difference did it make to them if he had one more girl openly gawking at him in the hallways?

Before she could reply that she would rather chew on broken glass than touch James Potter with a 10 foot pole, the train came to a stop.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please exit the train in an orderly fashion." The conductor's voice rang through the train, signaling the students to get off.

Avery immediately grabbed her belongings and started heading to the self-driven carriages in hopes to escape the conversation. Jessica and Albus came a few minutes after her, but didn't pursue the subject further. Avery soon was in a heated conversation with Albus about the possibility of narwhals living in the Bermuda Triangle when suddenly, she felt a prickly sensation on the back of her neck. She quickly turned her head around to catch James staring intently at her. He quickly averted his gaze and turned his attention back to the people in his carriage. She turned back to meet Albus's knowing gaze, but he said nothing. "This is going to be one hell of a year." She thought as she hid her red face in the red and gold scarf.


	2. Problems AriseHuge Problems

As soon as Avery, Jessica , and Albus split up to go to their separate tables, Avery sat next to her dorm mate, Lily Potter. Lily was the sweetest, most adorable person you would ever meet who rarely showed her fiery temper and was loved by everyone who knew her. She was a close friend of Avery, despite the differences in age and had been rooming with Avery since her first year. However, Lily was heavily guarded by both of her older brothers which gave James an excuse to be around Avery. As usual. So it was only natural for him to find the two Gryffindors within minutes.

"Potter, take it off before I break it off..." Avery said, referring to the arm that found its way around her shoulders.

James made no move to remove his arm, but he scooted closer to her until his face was only inches from hers. "You know, no matter how much you threaten my well being, I know you know we are meant to be together." He said in an uncharacteristically serious voice while staring intently into her eyes with his deep blue ones.

Avery sputtered, nearly choking on air,"W-what?" Lily giggled as she saw the shocked look on Avery's face, resembling that of a goldfish.

"To put it simply, you must be a horcrux, because you hold a piece of my soul." He said cheekily, using that lopsided smile of his. A collection of awwws could be heard from the girls nearby who were swooning at James while simultaneously glaring at Avery.

Avery cursed her hair as it turned a bright shade of crimson. She said, "Oh please, like you have a soul."

"Hey, it's my sister who's the ginger!" Avery actually laughed when she saw Lily's face morph into one of indignation.

"So how about a date?" James asked,"Just one and I'll leave you alone for a week. Probably. "

"How about you walk off the dock into the Black Lake while I count to one thousand?"

He was about to respond, but then a high pitched voice called his name. As expected, it was another one of his worshippers, one who appeared to have an atrociously amount of makeup and was somehow managing to walk in high heels.

"Gotta go, my fans need me. Think about it, Ree!" He winked before returning to his seat.

"You know, there is one thing I will never figure out."

Avery turned around, looking quizzically at Lily. "And that would be?.."

"You are so... Different from the girls he usually takes an interest in." She said with a thoughtful look on her face," I thought he would've given up on you ages ago, when you first turned him down, but he didn't. It's almost like he-" she was interrupted as Headmaster Neville stood in the golden podium in front of the Great Hall, silently commanding the attention of everyone.

"Welcome back and I hope you will enjoy another year at Hogwarts. Before we eat, I have a few announcements to make. I have finally selected the Quidditch Captains for this year. The Slytherin team captain will be Liam Abott; the Hufflepuff team Captain will be Makenzie Finnegan; Ravenclaw's captain shall be Jessica Wood; and lastly, for Gryffindor, James Potter.'' Oh my merlin. Avery's mouth just about hit the floor. No, no no nope this was not happening. Looking around, she saw several people patting James on the back and congratulating him. Well damn, so she wasn't hallucinating. _Of course_ he would be the team captain. Now she had to try out with him as her judge and even if she did make it, she would have to deal with him during practice and do what he says without question. That thought is too horrifying to even fathom.

The Headmaster cleared his throat loudly to regain get the students' attention. "Also, students, some of you may be familiar about an event that took place a few years ago at Hogwarts. We hosted a very distinguished competition here at Hogwarts many years ago. A quest for eternal glory and fame, only to be achieved by those who are deemed worthy. It was canceled, unfortunately, by the death of one of the former champions. After further consideration over the past few years, the Ministry of Magic has decided to attempt to host the this event in hopes of making it an annual event."

Murmuring broke out amongst the crowd of students. The Headmaster raised his voice in order to regain all attention. "Hogwarts will have the honor of hosting the Triwizard Tournament and our friends from Durmstrang and Salem's Institute for Witches to participate. We will start accepting competitors the day of the other schools arrival and you will have three days before we will chose our Champions. However, only students **above** the age of 17 will be allowed to enter," This was met with a series of groans and protest. ''and due to past experiences, we will have a guard posted by the Goblet of Fire at **all** times. However, before those who are eligible enter, heed this warning: this tournament has a series of very dangerous tasks for each competitor, designed to test each Champion to the best of their abilities. Once you are entered, there is no turning back, you must be prepared to stand alone to the end; due to the level of difficulty of these tasks, students have been injured, and have even died trying to gain eternal glory through finding the Cup and no one has come out of the tournament the same." He said gravely.

All was silent in the Great Hall by now. " Well...Let's eat." Headmaster Longbottom said awkwardly.

Immediately, heaps of food appeared on all the tables and everyone started piling things onto their golden plates as chatter filled up the hall. Aver looked around to meet Jessica's eyes and she could tell they both were thinking the same thing. Every guy in Hogwarts was going to try to figure out a way to put his name in the goblet. Even the age restriction wasn't going to stop them, not after the last Triwizard Tournament. Once the Goblet of Fire chose you, you were in it until the end. And sadly, every guy probably included Albus, despite how rational he usually was. Avery wasn't worried though, she was sure no one would be able to get past the age restriction this time, not with all the precautions they were taking. But there was one person she was worried about though; one person old enough and reckless enough to enter the tournament despite the obvious danger and odds for certain death. Hell, it probably intrigued him, if anything. Avery looked down the Gryffindor table at James Potter. Like she predicted, there he was, sitting in absolute silence, unusually sober and oblivious to the conversations around him. She could practically see the gears turning in his head, dreaming about him in the Triwizard Tournament and calculating his chances of being picked. Either way, she knew he was going to sign up. Lovely, now to think of a way to get both Potters to not enter the competition. This is going to be the highlight of her week. Maybe if-

"Avery, aren't you going to eat?" Lily Potter asked from the seat next to her. She examined Avery closely, noting the blue and green streaks. "Is everything alright?" She asked tentatively. Thankfully, most people didn't know what the colors of her hair represented, except the obvious ones.

"Oh yeah, just guess I'm a bit out of it today." Avery lied. A thought hit her. "Hey, you aren't thinking about trying to enter this competition, are you?.."

"Of course not, only a complete fool would try to enter when they are underage." Lily said ludicrously.

"At least you have some sense." Avery said, relieved. "_Well, one Potter down, two to go_." Avery thought to herself as she started eating.

* Le time skip*

Avery started heading over to the Ravenclaw common room after dinner. You see, since Albus, Jessica, and her are all in different houses we meet up in each other's common rooms at the beginning of each year. Both of them have said they like the Gryffindor Common Room the best, but agreed to meet up in Jessica's house this year. Anyway, as she entered the common room after giving the secret password, she came across Jessica faceplaming herself and Albus sitting on the couch across from her.

" Albus, there is no way on God's green earth you can get past the age barrier. It is **specifically designed** to keep hormone crazed boys seeking to go on a joy ride from entering the competition." Jessica said slowly, as if she was trying to explain it to a toddler.

"**I **may not be able to get past the age barrier, but the two most brilliant witches at Hogwarts and a pretty brilliant wizard might." Albus said suggestively, making his puppy dog face at the two girls.

" No, no no no. I'm sorry Albus, but there is absolutely no way we are going to purposely break countless school rules to illegally enter that competition." She insisted, the stubborn set of her jaw indicating she wasn't budging on this.

"Says the girl who has "bended'' school rules probably a record amount of times and somehow managed to get away with all of them. Avery, tell her she is being overdramatic about this whole thing." Albus said, exasperatedly.

Avery paused before answering, " I'm sorry, Albus, but I think Jessica has a point. There is a reason there is an age restriction. The seventh years know spells we haven't even begun to learn, much less mastered."

"Don't give me that rubbish, us three know more spells than all the seventh years combined. Together, I really think we have a shot at winning this, I mean, ETERNAL FAME guys. We really can leave our mark on this school."

" For the last time, I am not going to help you break countless rules and defy the Headmaster's DIRECT ORDERS to enter a tournament that you are going to get yourself killed in or worse expelled!" Jessica said firmly.

"So that's it, isn't it? You think I can't handle myself out there? You think I don't have a shot a winning? Do I not seem worthy enough to you?" Albus accused angrily, standing up from the couch.

_"Well this took a turn for the awkward." _Avery thought as she tried to steer the conversation in another direction. "So, Jessica is the Ravenclaw team captain, how awesome is that?"

Jessica didn't seem to hear her as she stood up, still barely reaching Albus's shoulder," I do think you have a shot, Albus, a shot of being worthy enough to be picked and hurt, which is why I'm **not** letting you put your name in the Goblet."

Avery tried again, "How about that weather were having? It's been so rainy."

They both completely ignored her once again. "I thought you were my friend and you were supposed to support me, and yet you are assuming I'm going to die in a competition meant FOR STUDENTS. Some friend you are!" Albums accused angrily.

"I am your friend, I just don't want to be the friend who has to explain to her mom why her son has returned home in a body bag!"

"Fine, then you don't have to be my friend, then!" Albus stormed out of the room. Jessica flinched as the sound of the door slamming shut rang out through the common room. Avery and Jessica sighed in unison as Jessica sat down and put her head in her arms.

"Well _that_ went swimmingly." Avery said, sarcastically.

"I'll say." Jessica said, her voice muffled by her arms.

"I don't think I have ever seen him that mad before. You know, he would've probably been more open to the idea of following the rules if you weren't so adamant he was going to die. Not the best approach."

Jessica groaned incoherently. "What? Seriously, Jessie, you need to stop moping and tell me what's up."

Jessica snapped, "Well, excuse me if I don't want to watch one of my best friends get hurt and know that I did NOTHING to stop him and that it's my fault he was entered in the first place. If anything were to happen to him I would never forgive my self, I would never-" Jessica broke off, her voice cracking and tears coming to her eyes. Avery ran over to Jessica and embraced her quivering form.

"Girly, I'm sure he'll get over it soon, his ego just has been injured because you are worried about him getting hurt."

"But that's idiotic." Jessica mumbled.

"Boys are idiotic. But usually they can't hold a grudge for long, I promise, he'll come to his senses and let it drop in a week."


	3. The Americans(& Bulgarians)have Arrived

**_ Update: There was just this little reference I made in this chapter to a character I just added a name to in chapter 2, her name is Britanny and I am so sorry if that is your name, seriously I love you guys and I don't want to offend you guys. You can ignore this bold stuff from here: I am so sorry I haven't updated I feel like a despicable human being! And also I am sorry this story is going a bit slow, I PROMISE it shall get better as the story goes on, I just REALLY suck at intros! Anyways, I loves you guyys!-Alex3_**

* * *

The entire school was abuzz. Today was the day the other schools competing in the tournament were due to arrive. It was fairly obvious that no one, not even the teachers, were truly paying attention to the lessons, making the day stretch out. The day seemed especially long to Avery. As excited as she was to see the students from Durmstrang and Salem, she was dreading tonight's supper for many reasons: one, they weren't going to serve chocolate pudding tonight; two, Albus would probably be even more furious at them once they started accepting names for the Tournament; three, after tonight, James would able to put his name in the Goblet. And there was absolutely nothing Avery could do to stop him.

At first, Avery thought of trying to talk Albus into convincing James to not enter, but seeing as she couldn't even talk him out of finding a way to help him enter underage and still wasn't talking to her, she quickly dismissed the idea. Then she even contemplated trying to talk him out of it herself, but couldn't think of any reasons that he would actually listen to. Or at least not any she liked. So it was safe to say she had made absolutely no progress.

Jessica barged into their room and threw a pillow at Avery from her bed. "Come on you inactive sloth, it's tiiiiime! Let's go there are FOREIGNERS coming!" She said excitedly before pulling Avery off the bed.

"Wait, how did you get in the Gryffindor House? How did you even get up the stairs without them caving in?"

"Rose let me up and frankly, Lionheart isn't the hardest password to figure out."

"You damn Ravenclaws."

"Oh please, It's like the Slytherins having Pureblood as thier password. Now come on we're going to miss it!"

Avery groaned, "Fine, let's get this over with."

"Oh come on, there'll be Americans there. Maybe you'll know someone." Jessica said in a sing song voice as she started to drag Avery to the Great Hall.

"Wait, wait, why would I know someone?"

"Well...they're American...and...you're American.." Jessica said shyly

"...So I take it you know the queen?" Avery asked.

"...Point taken."

"Ravenclaw, my arse." Avery scoffed.

"Hey, in my defense-" Jessica's insulted voice died out when she spotted Albus who was walking to the Great Hall with some of his friends. You could literally feel the awkwardness in the air when they both looked at each other. She tried waving, but Albus merely walked on, not even turning around to look back at the pair.

"Okay, so maybe Albus won't get over it in a week." Avery said

"You think?" Jessica said dejectedly.

Avery tried distracting her, "Hey, I'll meet you after dinner okay? We can go practice quidditch!"

"Yessh!," Jessica perked up at the mention of quidditch, "Perhaps we can ask the Gryffindor team captain for some pointers?.." She asked slyly.

Avery glared,"Please shut up."

"Oh, look, it has manners." Jessica said in mock surprise. Avery laughed as she shoved her to her table,"Just go sit down, child.

Avery plopped in between Rose Weasley and Lily,"Thank you for letting that she-devil into the girl's dorms, it's not like anyone was enjoying their peace and quiet." Avery said pointedly at Rose.

"You're lucky I didn't send James."

"And you're lucky I don't get Scorpius to-"

"Students and Staff," Headmaster Longbottom's voice boomed over the Hall," The moment we all have anxiously awaited has come. I would first like to proudly like to present our Brothers from the North, the Sons of Durmstrang." No sooner than he was done speaking did the Doors of the Great Hall burst open.

At first, no one walked through, but them perhaps two dozen or so puddles of fire ignited between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. The flames grew and grew until they erupted in a sea of warmth and colors. When the fire died down, in each place where there had been an inferno, there now stood an athletic looking young man. They all started simultaneously to stalk to the High Table. A few steps into their march, the teenagers started doing an intricate dance consisting of gymnastics and fighting. Avery looked around to see about 90% of her fellow female population ogling and practically drooling at the students from Bulgaria. She started to roll her eyes, not seeing what al the hype was about, when suddenly the chestnut-haired(and immensely attractive) boy closest to her had come to a quick stop in front of her, coming so close she thought he would run into her.

Instead, he held out a rose to her before winking his green eyes at her and carrying on with his performance. "So that's why everyone is so impressed." Avery thought as she admired the flower, her hair turning green from the awareness of the glares coming to her from all over the hall. While the stem of the flower seemed to be normal, the petals seemed to be made of actual fire, the reds and oranges constantly swirling to make beautiful patterns. Avery looked back, only to see that the guy with green eyes had already made his way to the front where him and some other students were performing an impressive trick. The boys conjured staffs that was alight on both ends which they then started twirling and twisting, the flames dangerously close to the boys' bodies, the rod seeming like an extension of their arms. Suddenly, the boy with the emerald-coloured eyes swallowed the flames from his wand and spewed a stream fire from his mouth which which changed from red and orange to a sapphire blue. After the last of the flames died out, everyone started clapping.

Once the applause died down, Professor Longbottom went back to the podium, "Now that we have welcomed our old friends, I would like to introduce our new friends from across the pond, The Daughters of Salem."

A few seconds of silence passed before the sound of a single set of footsteps could be heard. A majestic, almost ethereal, white tiger with ebony stripes padded into the room. A couple of students started in fear, until the tiger lifted its head, its blue eyes radiating intelligence. It continued to walk to the High Table, with each step, it was slowly morphing into a different form. By the end of the creature's transformation, willowy, fair, young girl in a full length, iridescent blue dress with transparent sleeves stood in the tiger's place, the only thing alike was the girl's white hair and her aqua blue eyes. As she continued her walk to the front table, small, dainty, glass-like flowers formed in her wake. Avery's attention was completely on her until she noticed that the clusters of ice were forming human-like shapes, as the tiger had. As each shape and color in the statues became more distinguishable, Avery could see each was a girl, all around the white-haired girl's age, had slight differences from each other, but were all dressed identically in crystal blue dresses that glimmered every time they moved and extended to their knees, making them slightly less grand as the Tiger Girl. As the girls completed their metamorphosis they bounded off in a graceful assortment of leaps, twists, and spins, making their way into a circle around the Tiger Girl. They all somehow were bending orbs of water, directing it with their hands to form various shapes, even changing it from water to ice and shooting flurries of snowflakes into the air.

Simultaneously, the entire circle of girls shot their water at the Tiger Girl, looking as if they were meaning to attack her. The girl threw her hands up, almost like a shield, and stopped the water in its path, forming a ring around her. The circle of girls started to spin the circle and the blue-eyed girl started to spin with it, her arms still outstretched like a ballerina's, as if she meant to keep up with it, as the ring started to enclose on her. When the water was within inches of her body, the Tiger Girl flung her hands up, her palms facing upward, the water following the direction of her arms while turning into ice. The ice formed a magnificent, snow-white, dragon that continued flying to the sky-like ceiling of the Great Hall, its scales iridescent like the girl's dresses and its body looked made up of icicles. When it reached the top, the beast turned its great head back to face the bewildered students, opened its mouth, and spewed a blast of frost before shattering into tiny pieces of crystal ice, making the Great Hall appear as if it were snowing on the inside

The entire hall was silent as the group of girls walked up and stood next to the Durmstrang students, even the teachers looking at them with wide eyes. The girls continued standing there, shifting uncomfortably under everyone's awed gazes. Avery giggled quietly,"Well, I guess they outdid themselves a bit. Go hard or go home, I guess." She thought to herself. Mercifully, she started clapping, nudging Lily and Rose to clap to. Slowly, everyone started clapping, much to the American students' relief. Professor Longbottom seemed to snap out of his stupor. " Well, welcome, Students of Salem and Durmstrang and thank you for those amazing performances. Please feel free to sit wherever you like, I am sure our students would be more than happy to welcome our guests." At this, the Bulgarians students started to look around hesitantly, however, the American students immediately flocked out to different tables without so much as a blink of an eye. Evidently, these girls weren't shy. Most of the Durmstrang students Ravenclaws and Gryffindors while most of the Salem students sat with the Slytherins. The Tiger Girl,surprisingly, chose to sit at the Hufflepuff Table.

Just as she was beginning to enjoy a mice peaceful meal (despite the lack of chocolate pudding), Avery felt an arm sling around her shoulders, "Move the arm or you lose the arm." She threatened, not even turning around, still managing to sound intimidating even with her mouth full of food.

"Well, that isn't exactly how I imagined that going." A heavily accented voice came from beside her. Avery silently cursed to herself before turning around. _"Nice going, Avery. At this rate your hair is going to become permanently pink_."

"Oh, uh, H-hi, I thought you were someone else." Avery said to the jade-eyed boy from Durmstrang.

"Oh thank Merlin, I was looking forward to meeting such a pretty girl without cocking it up and I thought I was failing at it already.

Rose interjected,"Well, for the record, I think you are doing a fabulous job. You know, despite her threatening you off the back"

"Why thank you," He said in mock reverence, "I'm Dimitri Aleksandrov. May have the pleasure of knowing the names of such lovely ladies."

"Well, I'm Avery, this is Rose and this is-Hey where is Lily?" Avery looked around for her roommate,"I swear, I'm not crazy, there was just a little ginger right here. " She said when she saw the confused look on his face.

"I think I saw her go over to talk to her brother." Rose said,nodding in James's direction.

Avery turned to look at the Potter siblings. Despite her small frame, Lily had an intimidation factor that would put even her grandmother to shame. And it looked like she was putting it to good use as James and her appeared to be arguing back and forth...for the fifth time today. Avery could tell, even from a distance, due to the stubborn set in Lily's jaw and James's wild hand gestures, this wasn't going to end well. Guess who is going to have to break them up after dinner instead of taking a nice long nap? Seriously, someone was going to get stabbed with Brittany's eyeliner for interfering with her sleep.

"So are either of you going to be entering the Triwizard tournament?" Dimitri asked, drawing their attention back.

Avery laughed,"I'm sorry, did you just ask me if I had a death wish?

"So, I take that as a no?..." Dimitri teased.

"Don't mind her," Rose said,"She just isn't overly fond of 'students being paraded around and put in life threatening events for the viewing pleasure of others' as she puts it. We're not old enough to enter anyway, we're in sixth year. So I take I you are entering?"

"Please," He scoffed,"Going to a foreign school, entering in a contest with a small chance of being chosen, and a possible yearlong endeavor of life threatening tasks? I wouldn't miss this for the world." He said, grinning mischievously," That is the only way we could come to this school, if we were to enter the tournament."

"Well there is one upside to entering yourself in an incredibly atrocious competition, you get to stay an entire year at Hoggywarts. It's pretty hard not to enjoy yourself here."

Professor Lovegood stood up at the podium. "Thank you, students, for this lovely evening of celebration," She said in her dream-like voice,"Sadly, we must end the festivities for tonight. All students may follow their Head boy and Girl to their Common Room. We will start accepting names into the Goblet of Fire tomorrow at midday. Thank you and have a pleasant evening."

"Oh, I guess we better be off." Rose said. They both bid him good night.

"Good night Avery, Rose. And you're right, by the way, I'm already enjoying my time here at Hogwarts." He said shyly before following the rest of the Durmstrang students to their ship outside.


	4. Well, My Job Just Got A Whole Lot Harder

**I am so so so so sorry my lovlies for taking so long, I've been having issues and projects and this chapter isn't satisfying to me, so I'm going to try to post the next one as soon as possible! I love you all! **

The entire way back, Rose teased Avery about Dimitri, who was joined by Jessica. Apparently, she had seen Avery's pink hair and 'deer caught in the headlights' look from across the Hall.

"Did you see the way he was looking at you?! I swear, I've never seen anything so cute in my life!" Rose gushed as she spazzed out about the Bulgarian.

"He was looking at me like I was a person. Nothing new there. Besides, you can't possibly fancy someone within 20 minutes of meeting them." Avery pointed out.

"Oh, come on, let a girl dream."

"Avery has a point," Jessica said," She and this Dameon guy will never have the chemistry that her and a certain Gryffindor I shall not name has."

Avery rolled her eyes,"It's Dimitri, and frankly, at this point, he's winning."

"Oh, please, Team James all the way. I'm making you guys shirts."

Rose giggled, "Well, now that you mention it-"

"I will make Scorose t-shirts." Avery threatened.

"Okay, consider the idea abandoned.'' Rose said quickly as they turned the corner before the portrait to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

"See you tomorrow!" Jessica said as she turned to hear her entrance riddle.

"Goodnight!" The girls responded before walking through dozens of halls and staircases to their common room.

As soon as Avery and Rose walked through the Portrait hole, they could hear the sound of two voices yelling from the Girls' Dormitory. They started walking up the stair's, Avery praying for herself to be wrong as the sound got louder and louder with each step. When Avery reached her dorm, she silently pleaded with Rose. "Oh hell no, your roommate, your problem." Avery hesitated as she heard Lily yell from inside her dorm, "It's madness!"

"You're overreacting, it's just a tournament! I thought you would be supportive of me, I am a Gryffindor, afterall!"

"No, do not use that excuse on me James Sirius Potter, there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy!"

Avery breathed before she opened the door and said,"You do have to admit, though, they often go hand-in-hand for Gryffindors."

"See, even Ree agrees with me." James said triumphantly.

"Woah, woah, woah. I agreed to no such thing. At least tell me what I am agreeing to, but honestly, I suspect I am going to end up agreeing with Lils." Avery said, plopping down on her bed.

"Weeeelll," Lily said between gritted teeth, "This genius here thinks it's a fabulous idea to enter the Triwizard Tournament along with every other suicidal wizard at this school. "

"I know what I'm doing Lily! I can see why you're worried, but I am a seventh year and if the Ministry thinks the tournament is for for seventh years that give me every right to enter." Seeing Lily and Avery's unconvinced faces, he continued, "I'll be fine, this is what being a Gryffindors is about, showing courage in the face danger."

"Yup, I knew it, Potter, listen to your sister, this isn't bravery, it's stupidity."

"I'm the great James Potter, what is the worse that could happen?" He said, jokingly.

"I'm being serious James, you remembered what happened to dad. He said it was one of the most terrifying experiences of his life. He would flip if he found out they were holding another tournament here!"

At this, Avery could see his resolve weaken, but he continued to argue, "There is no Lord Voldemort here to hurt us Lily. We can't spend out entire lives in fear of someone who so many people sacrificed so much to ensure he was gone. If we do he wins."

Lily went silent as she tried to think of a different tact. Before she could open her mouth again, James opened the door and left the room. Groaning, Avery got off the bed and went after him. He was already in front of the fireplace when Avery finally caught up with him.

"Potter-" she was about to stop him when he turned around and interrupted him,"Look Avery, in case you didn't hear my whole speech back there, I am entering. I can't let my family and everyone else be haunted by something that was suppose to end years ago."

"This isn't about that, Potter. You're too busy worrying about how you entering will look, you're not thinking about Lily and Albus. As annoying as you are, they still love you and would be devastated if anything happened to you. The fact is people have been hurt and killed before your father was a Champion. For some delusional reason, the Ministry thinks that they have some degree of control over this damned competition but the truth is they don't. If they don't even know who the Champions will be how can they know anything? How do they know thy they won't have to tell someone's family that they will never see their child again because of them?" Avery shrugged," If you can tell me that, James, then I won't stop you from entering."

For the first time since Avery had met him, James Potter looked shocked. "What?" Avery asked.

"You...you called me James, "He said,disbelieving, "Not 'Potter' or 'egotistical toerag'."

Avery, despite her own shock, focused on the topic at hand, "Potter, look me in the eyes and tell me you won't put your name in the Goblet."

James joked, "Wow, you sound almost concerned. Have you finally come around?"

"James..." Avery looked at him expectantly, waiting for a response.

James hesitated before sighing,"Okay...I won't enter."

Avery breathed a sigh of relief. Before she could register what she was doing, she pulled James into a hug. "Thank you for finally seeing some sense."

Soon, she processed what happened and was about to flee to her room to hide the oncoming hair color change, when the door of the Common Room swung open, "Avery, are you still awa-?.." Jessica's voice died down as she saw the scene before her, a look of complete bewilderment on her face. It looked as if the god of the sky had flown down and gave her a pineapple before breakdancing.

She shook off enough of her wonder(horror) to say, "Uhh yeah, umm, Professor Mcgonagall asked me to come and get James. Mr. Cadwell wanted to talk to you."

"Who?"

"I dunno, some ministry person. Something about quidditch. Honestly, I was too tired to hear the full message, just go Sergeant Flyfail."

"Will do, Captain Clumsy."

Jessica fake coughed, "Ravenclaws for the win."

"In you dreams." James fake coughed before stepping through the Portrait Hole around Jessica, who now had recovered from her shock and was full out smirking at Avery with a knowing look in her eyes.

"What?" Avery snapped which only caused Jessica's grin to grow.

"Avery and James sitting in a tree-"

"If you value your life you will end that sentence and back away slowly."

"K-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes-''

At this point, Avery put her fingers in her ears and started singing,"Lalala I can't hear you!"

Jessica laughed and increased her volume, causing Avery to sing at the top of her lungs as she stomped up the stairs,"If I don't hear it, it's not true; if I don't hear it's not true!"

"I loves you!" Jessica yelled up to her.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too. Next time you need something from the tall shelf, don't ask me for help."

"..Low blow, Winchester, low blow."

"Well I have to, you're not even 5foot."

"Good night, hope the nargles bite." Jessica said as she left the common room. Avery felt conflicted. She shouldn't be so concerned, or at least obviously concerned, with James's safety. Things were spiraling too quickly out of her carefully planned out control. Sighing, Avery went to her dorm and got ready for bed. Despite her inner battle between her head and her heart, Avery fell into a deep slumber and, for the first time in a long time, had a nice, uninterrupted sleep.

*Le time skip to breakfast*

"Who says they would enslave the human race?" Rose asked Jessica.

"The 'eww who is this peasant' face they have every time they're within a six foot radius of humans." Avery retorted, doing her best attempt at the expression she described.

"I think it's more of a 'oh god why do you exist' face." Fred said, thoughtfully.

"Exactly, they would most definitely kill us if given the chance. We would be simply oxygen stealers to them." Jessica agreed.

"But we give them catnip and open cans of food and scratch their ears. We're somewhat useful." Rose argued.

"Well if they have evolved enough to take over the human race, I think they can open their own cans of catnip." Dimitri sided with Jessica.

"Yes, I have the foreigner on my side! I officially win!" Jessica said smugly.

Rose playfully glared at her before asking,"Aren't you supposed to be at a different table, Ravenclaw?"

Jessica whined,"The foreigner isn't suppose to either and you have no qualms!"

Dimitri cut in, "Actually, we-"

"Shh, just go along with it, foreigner."

"You know, the foreigner has a name."

"Yes, it's the foreigner."

So Avery had seen Dimitri walking to the Great Hall for breakfast and had invited him to sit with her, resulting in her introducing him to Fred and Jessica, seeing as Rose already knew him. While Fred had been nonchalant but polite about it, Jessica had been ecstatic about having another person who wasn't British in their group and had insisted on only referring to him as 'the foreigner'. Now with their introductions out of the way, she still had one more person to introduce.

Avery spotted Lily coming towards their table. She pointed towards her."

"That's the ginger."

Dimitri turned his head to glance at her and started to turn back to his food, until he quickly turned back again, as if he hadn't seen her the first time.

"This is Dimitri, he's from Durmstrang. Say hello, Lily." Avery said as Lily sat down.

"Hello Lily."

Avery rolled her eyes."Hardy har har, I'm dying. Of laughter, of course."

"So, this the infamous ginger I've heard so much about and,truthfully, thought was imaginary?" Dimitri asked.

"You told him I was nonexistent?" Lily asked puzzled.

Avery dismissed the the statement,"Meh, he assumed. Anyway, why has you, the ever punctual Lily Potter, late to breakfast?

Lily groaned in annoyance and anger, "I had to turn in my Muggle Studies' essay Easley this morning, so I figured I would take a

shorter hallway to get here. As soon as I exited the hallway, I was ATTACKED by those damn pixies in a box. Just a bit of advice, Fred, THEY DO NOT ENJOY BEING IN A BOX!" She finished, glaring at Fred.

Fred looked indignant, "Who said it was my fault? I'm not the only prankster at Hogwarts."

"The pixies told me, they are looking for blood. Lucky for you, I'm a NICE cousin and told them it was Scorpius. But trust me, dear cousin, revenge will be sweet."

Fred rolled his eyes amusedly, "And what shall thou inflict upon me? Perhaps a whoppee cushion under my chair? Or dare I even contemplate you shocking me hand while I give you a handshake?"

Lily shrugged her shoulders, "You won't know when, you won't know how, but I'm gonna get you back. "

Lily then turned to Avery,"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, thank you, thank you, thank you for whatever you said to James, he hasn't mentioned the tournament once since you did."

"No problem, Lily. I never have a problem guiding people guiding people down the less idiotic path in life."

"Oh, how saintly you are Avers! You truly have saved lives through your immense generosity."

"You know, the tournament can't be that bad if the ministry allows it." Dimitri said tentatively.

Avery groaned,"Oh not you, too."

He held his hands up in defense, "What? It is what I traveled across Europe to do. I'm sorry I'm worrying you, but this is something I have to do. Speaking of which," He searched through his bag before pulling out a piece of parchment and scribbling on it, "I really should do this now."

Dimitri walked up and waited his turn in the crowd of students entering their names or supporting their classmates.

Avery watched as the crowd grew thinner and thinner, Dimitri close to the front. Jessica elbowed Avery in the ribs,"You worried?"

"No, I'm not in control of what he does, we did only just meet. If he wants to enter, I have no right to stop him." She sighed, "I just know there is something not right about this. And I have a feeling it's just going to explode in our faces."

"Ohh, the foreshadowing of future events to come. Our little Avery is mastering the great lost art of Divination." Fred joked. Everyone at the table chuckled.

Avery laughed along with everyone, grateful for the distraction from her thoughts. She and everyone turned back just in time to see Dimitri slip his name into the cup. Right after the Goblet accepted his name, everyone's attention was turned to the mysterious Tiger Girl who had left the Hufflepuff Table and approached the cup and entered her name.

"Is that the last of them? Wow, you'd think there would be more people entering." Rose said as she saw the rapidly diminishing crowd. Everyone turned back to their food, all interest lost.

"No, I think there's still one more person." Jessica said as she spotted a tall figure walk up to the Goblet. Avery whipped her head around to see a flash of brown hair and blue eyes. _Oh my god no, this isn't happening_.

Avery could feel the oxygen catch in her throat as she saw James place a slip of parchment into the Goblet of Fire with a burst of blue embers and flames as it was accepted.

"Well, my job just got a whole lot harder." Lily growled as her face started to turn as red as her hair.


End file.
